Open Letter to Senator Lisa
Murkowski: Sealaska Land Grab Bill
By Myla Poelstra

February 22, 2010
Monday PM

We read your latest news release this morning in the Juneau Empire,
"Public Hearings in Southeast region to begin in early March".
Everyone is once again disappointed by what appears to be stubborn
indifference to formally addressing our concerns. We have been
writing letters since 2003 when you introduced S.1466 - The Land
Transfer Acceleration Act. Sealaska had already made their out
- of - withdrawal area selections on N. Prince of Wales at that
time. Over seven years and several different attempts at legislation,
and they have never really adjusted their proposed selections.
You have left us to feel there has been an extensive effort of
stonewalling against the legitimate concerns of the people living
in these areas. Evidently we do not have the deep pockets that
it must take to gain your support. If this letter sounds angry
and cynical, its supposed to. Your deliberate remarks designed
for deflection are easily picked up on. People living remote
are not as intellectually challenged as you might think.

"Listening Sessions"
with a tape recorder and someone from your staff are not the
answer we were petitioning for. After the years of disinterest
both you and Sealaska have shown to the sincere petitions for
a better solution, how can you expect us to have any trust in
your office? How do we know what we say on tape will ever be
heard by anyone?!! Why would you suggest sending Sealaska members
to do what we have asked you to? Haven't they already
been allowed to do enough of the legwork for their own legislation?
Formal Public Hearings in affected areas are the only way people
will feel certain they have been heard. None of our public officials,
including Senator Kookesh, our district representative, have
ever given their constituents the representation they deserve
in regards to this legislation. How can you deny his obvious
attempts at coercing compliance from the communities he is supposed
to be representing? Why does he announce himself Chairman of
the Board for Sealaska, before he mentions he is a State Senator?
We believe someone could be trying to control what is said, and
what gets out to the media. This looks more all the time like
a corrupt process. Most would say now that it has been from the
start. Everyone suspects that its really about money, power,
and greed.

Your comments give folks the
impression of a carefully planned game of "spin". "Never
once have I heard someone say Sealaska doesn't deserve to have
their land conveyances," Murkowski said. Of course no
one has ever said Sealaska should not receive their conveyances,
and in a timely manner. It was their decision to fight the provisions
of ANCSA and continue to push for selections outside the withdrawal
areas, which is the really at the heart of this issue for the
people that stand to be affected by their repeated legislation.
They do not need to amend ANCSA. They need to take their selections
from around their communities, instead of destroying the lives
and livelihoods of communities that Congress did not intend for
them to select around. People are beginning to question why Sealaska
petitioned Congress for amendment to ANCSA in 1977 to exclude
selections from around Yakutat, Angoon, and Klawock (timber lands
inside the withdrawal area). Just a coincidence that these are
the home villages of the board members for Sealaska? Is this
why they say they don't have adequate areas to select from?

This is the most blatant example
of injustice to hit Southeast Alaska that I have ever seen. Some
people are questioning whether the corruption exposed by Senator
Kookesh extends throughout our Congressional Delegation as well.
Two wrongs don't make things right. How is completing Sealaska's
entitlements by destroying existing communities any different
from the reasons ANCSA was created in the first place. Is this
what you had in mind for an equitable solution?

Using the timber industry as
justification again comes across as "spin". The Tongass
will never support the intensive harvesting of the past decades.
That is why we need to transition into a broader economy. Sealaska
themselves have stated this in their press releases and full
color portfolios. What many believe they are looking for is fast
money from timber to provide them with the capital they will
need to move into every other economic opportunity in Southeast.

We are taught to respect members
of our government who are elected to public office. Respect in
any situation is something that must truly be earned. If you
want the people of Southeast Alaska who have tried so hard to
reach you to have respect for what you are trying to do, stop
what appears to be stonewalling, deflecting, and spinning the
story. Hold the congressional hearings your constituents are
requesting, or stop this legislation in committee. How many more
cities, towns, and communities will have to pass formal resolutions
to have a responsible answer to this bad situation addressed?
If you are determined to stay on the path you have chosen, you
may ultimately be responsible for turning Alaskan neighbors against
one another, and causing serious conflicts within the Tongass
for decades to come. Is that what you meant by an equitable
solution?

There has to be a better answer
than the one Sealaska has come up with. ANCSA was developed around
their input. The areas they were supposed to select from were
choices they made on their own. What has changed in the years
since its establishment that justifies what they are proposing
to do? What kind of entitlement obligates the people who have
labored for decades to build what they have in this region to
simply step aside and watch their lives be destroyed as if they
mean nothing? The answer to this problem is simple, Sealaska
needs to complete their land conveyances from inside the available
withdrawal areas that were designed at their request, and be
the "good neighbor" they have claimed they want to
be. This will produce a peaceful solution that will allow everyone
living in the Tongass to move forward into a prosperous future.